Penny Draws a Best Friend by Sara Shepard

What worked:

A major focus of the story is Penny’s struggle with anxiety, and the author indicates some of the events come from her own experiences. Penny frequently lets her mind run wild until it spins into the worst possible scenarios. The fifth-grader overly worries about a visit to Target, her mom being a few minutes late to pick her up, visiting a kids’ party restaurant, and even sharpening her pencil. Her emotions are such a problem that she sees a Feelings Teacher at school named Mrs. Hines. The whole book is written like a diary, similar to the author’s real-life journal, in which Penny writes to her dog Cosmo about her feelings. It’s a great way to share the endless thoughts and emotions racing through her mind that fit into the context of the book.

The complications of friendship are additional conflicts overwhelming young Penny. As the synopsis mentions, she’s looking forward to seeing Violet again until she realizes something has drastically changed in their relationship. Of course, Penny starts to imagine the problem must be something she’s done, said, or even worse, that there’s something wrong with her. Penny meets other students through Mrs. Hines, the classroom, and the lunchroom. She discovers the misconceptions and assumptions she has about them and her character slowly transforms with new experiences.

This aspect will probably be unique to me but I find the inclusion of Rocco Roman very interesting. Rocco is much larger than any other classmate and most of the kids fear him due to some anger outbursts in previous grades. Other students keep their distance but Penny discovers she has a couple of things in common with Rocco. Every time he makes an appearance in the story provides an opportunity for Penny and readers to learn a little bit more about this minor character. We slowly discover we don’t know much about his past or what he might be dealing with so we learn a little more every time his character makes an appearance. Rocco reinforces the fact that we should be kind to everyone because we may not understand the issues affecting them.

What didn’t work as well:

The book title seems to be explained early in the book as Penny draws a picture of Violet that highlights her friend’s best qualities. Stories often develop until their titles are explained or become evident so sharing Penny’s drawing right away feels strange. On the other hand, sharing the most important qualities of friendship in the picture may get readers wondering about their own thoughts regarding what it means to be a friend.  

The Final Verdict:

Many young readers will be able to connect with Penny’s experiences with changing friendships and stress, although their emotional struggles probably won’t be as severe. Penny’s methods for handling her problems offer useful suggestions while they provide entertainment. Overall, this book should appeal to most middle-grade readers and I recommend you give it a shot.